Angels Among Us
by Shini02
Summary: NXM fic. Oneshot. Jay's gone home to be with the one he loves. Do you believe in angels? Jebediah Guthrie does.


**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything but the fic.

**A/N:** Contains spoilers for She Lies With Angels and the newer issues of NXM.

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**Angels Among Us**

Josh took a deep breath, taking in the country air around him. It was a clean smell, a refreshing change from the smog he had grown used to inhaling in the city. He had to shield his eyes as he looked up at the cloudless sky, the sun's glare causing him to see momentary green and blue spots dancing in front of his eyes. A single cloud swallowed the sun's light for a moment and Josh took the chance to note the cloud looked a little bit like a heart. No, he suddenly decided, not a heart. Upon closer inspection, the cloud looked like a pair of folded wings, slowly spreading as the cloud stretched across the sky and faded out in front of the sun. He grimaced and ducked his head when the sun hit his eyes again, causing him to squint for a few seconds even as he stared at the ground. He had grown accustomed to the way the tall buildings in the city blocked out the sun most of the time, now he would have to get used to the fact that the sun wasn't so easy to escape anymore. But he didn't mind. He didn't mind the way the sun was beating down on his naked torso, burning his skin and warming his wings to an extreme; the way the too-fresh air overwhelmed his nostrils; the way the dirt and grass settled unevenly under his bare feet. None of those once-annoyances mattered in the least anymore. Josh was just happy to be home.

---

Jebediah Guthrie had to get out of the house. He didn't want to hear what Melody had to say between quiet sobs, he didn't care what happened back at the school or how she woke up without her powers. He didn't want to see his mother crying anymore. Jeb ignored his mother's protests as he left the house and slammed the front door behind him. He heard the door open again, heard Melody call for him to come back, but he continued walking. He needed to get away and just _think _for a little while.

Jeb shoved his hands into his pockets, idly fingering a small hole in one of his pockets' seams. After a second or so, he fisted his hands, Mom would kill later him if he made the hole worse than it was. He kicked a rock, and kicked it again, harder, when he reached it. The rock skipped across the dirt path, raising small dust clouds and then stopped at the edge of the path. Jeb couldn't be bothered to kick it again. He simply sighed and shook his head a little, as though that would make his thought process easier. It didn't. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Josh hadn't walked through the front door with Melody earlier.

---

Josh had walked slowly to the pond, purposely taking his time. This was something he had to do, but he hadn't been quite sure if he was ready to face the ghosts of his past.

Now standing at the edge of the water, Josh stared down at the placid surface. It still made him feel sick to his stomach. Shaking his head, Josh squatted and used his wings to keep his balance. He ran his fingers through the water and felt a shiver run from the base of his spine all the way to the tips of his wings. The water was cold, but the temperature had not been what caused the shiver. The memories that had come flooding back to him, the good along with the bad, had been the reason his insides suddenly spasmed.

"I knew you would come back here," a voice said from the other side of the pond. Josh looked up and smiled warmly at the young woman now slowly making her way around the pond and over to him.

"I couldn't stay away," he replied simply, standing to look at her properly. He wiped his wet fingertips against his hip, drying them.

She nodded. "I know," she murmured quietly. She reached out to place a hand on the young mutant's chest, eyes and fingertips gently tracing the scar over his heart. "Does it hurt at all?" She asked, looking up at him again.

Josh shook his head and took her hand in his, lowering it but never letting go. "Not anymore."

She smiled at him and wriggled her hand out of his grasp only to wrap her arms around him and hold herself against his bigger body. "I'm glad, Joshua," she whispered. It was such a relief to know he wasn't hurting anymore.

---

Jeb stopped walking when he realized he was heading right for the pond. He thought about turning around and going down a different path but, on second thought, he decided the pond may have been the best place to go. He could be completely and utterly alone there. No one went there anymore, not since some stupid flatscan said it was haunted by Julia Cabot's ghost. Jeb had heard some kid in the county saying the Cabot ghost would be seen wading through the shallows of the water, humming a sad song and waiting for her lover to join her in death. Jeb had rolled his eyes at that, then zapped the ground near the kid's feet. That had shut him up fast and sent him running home, probably to tell his parents a mutant had tried to kill him or something stupid like that. Jeb didn't care. What had happened between his brother and the Cabot girl wasn't something to be made a mockery of.

Jeb took a deep breath as he continued walking, trying to ignore the odd feeling that was getting stronger with every step closer to the pond. Despite the warm summer weather, the strangest chill running up and down his spine.

Just a few feet from the pond, Jeb found himself unable to move. At first he had simply heard faint mumbles, familiar voices that sounded more like distant echoes drifting by on the breeze. The voices never did become any clearer, but Jeb could easily make out two human figures materializing. Jeb should have been frightened but that was hardly the case. Instead, the young Guthrie stood back and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched his brother and the Cabot girl with the faintest smirk on his lips.

Slowly, Julia looked away from Josh and smiled at Jeb. Josh followed her gaze and grinned at his younger brother. The ghostly mutant opened his mouth and his lips moved, forming words that Jeb never really heard but he felt their meaning in his heart.

"We'll be fine," he said simply, shrugging. The healing process would be a long one, but Jeb tried telling himself everything would be alright. Sooner or later. "Don't y'all worry 'bout us."

Josh nodded and then looked back to Julia. He motioned with one hand to the pond. Julia looked at the water, speaking; Jeb was only able to hear that distant echoing mumble. Josh then unhooked Julia's arms from around him and held her hands. He nodded and gave her a genuine smile. Julia bit her bottom lip but soon smiled back at her lover, slowly moving so she was able to walk backwards into the water, leading Josh by the hands. Once both apparitions were waist deep in the water, Jeb felt he should look away, especially when their lips met.

When Jeb looked up again, Josh and Julia had vanished under the surface of the pond. He watched as ghostly bubbles rose up from the depths but never quite broke the surface and felt himself smiling. Shaking his head, Jeb took a breath before walking slowly over to the edge of the pond and sitting down. He peered into the water, saw nothing and grinned. If Josh and Julia could move on after what they had been through, Jeb was now one hundred and ten percent sure the rest of the family would make it through losing the winged-wonder.

---

"Jebediah Guthrie!" Lucinda scolded, voice cracking from crying so much earlier. "How dare ya come back here after stormin' out the way ya did like nothin' happened, tellin' me ya saw... Oh, Ah can't even bring mahself t'say it!"

Jeb rolled his eyes. He should have known his mother wouldn't have believed him. "Ah'm tellin' ya, I saw 'im. An' the Cabot girl. They–"

"Ah don' wanna hear it," Lucinda sighed and sat herself down on the plastic chair on the front porch.

"But Ma–" Jeb saw the way his mother's eyes were glassing over again and sighed, sitting down with a _thud_ on the porch, not bothering to say another word. He heard a faint whimper and then his mother sniffled; Jeb fought the urge to cover his ears. Not a second later, Jeb was extremely glad he hadn't blocked out his mother's crying, otherwise he would have missed the faint whisper on the wind.

_Child to youth, remembrance dims..._

"Ma, lissen!"

_...but passion still must hold. _

"Jeb – Oh mah goodness," Lucinda whimpered and wiped at her eyes, standing slowly and holding onto the porch railing.

_Two angels lie too bold. _

"D'ya hear that?" She whispered now, looking around for the source of the voice. She would never find it because Josh was all around them.

_Two angels lie so bold._

Jeb grinned and stood himself up, brushing off the back of his pants. "Yep, Ah hear it. Ah told ya so."

When Lucinda suddenly wrapped her arms around Jeb, he knew he had been on the right track back at the pond. Getting passed this was going to take a little while but with a couple of angels watching over the family, Jeb knew it really wasn't going to be as hard as he originally thought.

-End


End file.
